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What Causes A Locomotive To Shoot Sparks?
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A lot of largeer boats and small ships use EMD's and other train engines for motive power. It is common, especially with the EMDs, that after idling for a number of hours to, when throttled up to full power, blow huge clouds of smoke and somtimes flames from the exhaust for several minutes. This is as stated in earlier posts caused by the build up of carbon and unburned fuel and oil in the exhausts. <br />What can be really spectacular is a stack fire. The carbon, oil, and fuel actually catch on fire and then you can have flames shooting out the exhaust for 15 to 25 feet. The mufflers and exhaust pipes glow cherry red. When this happens you only have seconds to get off the throttles or you will burn out the exhaust system. <br />Another result of long idling is all the soot that get thrown out the stack when you first throttle up. On the tug I run, there is an aft control station that I use when hooking up to a tow or stretching wire in or out. I, at times, get covered with soot, and the chunks of hot carbon blowing out the stack can have me do all kinds of funny dances on the boat deck when some of it goes down the back of shirt or lands on my neck.
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